Bigger Than Us
by ally734
Summary: Jake left Bella for another woman and she's recovering in Miami where she runs into her best friend and long time crush Edward. Will sparks fly when Bella's on the rebound?


**Disclaimer: I own nothing but this crazy ass plot and the cuban mother. **

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AN: Okay so this is my first fanfic and its re-done thanks to some problems a reader encountered the first time I posted. Teehee my bad. It should be all good now. Reviews are love guys (:**

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**BPOV**

Her name was Isabella Swan. She waited at that bus stop, drinking her coffee that was always too bitter. She was patiently waiting for a man that, she wouldn't know it yet, was the man of her dreams. They were truly, madly, and deeply in love with each other. Or at least she thought, until this fateful night when he stood her up. Naturally, she wasn't concerned, "Maybe he just got caught up at work," she thought to herself. It was about midnight and he hadn't shown up yet. The place was clearing out and the couples that once made this joyful room buzz with their soothing chatter had gone home in hopes of tomorrow. Bella was furious. "No work should take him this long!" she muttered as a waiter passed by. "Great, now he thinks I'm crazy" she thought.

A quarter past one in the morning and Bella was walking herself home. Alone, the city was intimidating; the dark, musty alleyways and the gigantic buildings on each side of her. When she reached her apartment building at last, she thought she would pass out. There, right in front of her very own eyes, she saw the man of her dreams kissing another woman. At that very instant she felt her heart shatter into an infinite amount of pieces. She had turned cold and it felt as if the very shards of glass from her now broken heart were piercing every inch of her body. For a moment she could not, would not, move. As tears began to flow her brain took action before anything else could break inside of her already fragile body. Much before her actual body knew what she was doing she was passing the apologetic man and the woman, now her sworn enemy. She was sprinting up the stairs faster than ever before because she knew what would happen if she stopped. If she stopped, things would spin out of control.

"As long as I'm moving, nothing else can hurt me" was her mentality. And for the most part she was right. She would not have to hear the man who was now yelling his apologies, or the woman who assisted him in the murder of the soul that once embodied Bella. This soul, once strong and willful and most of all in love, died a tragic death this night. She finally reached her apartment and was trying to unlock the door but her hand could not stop shaking. He was now directly behind her stating that this woman meant nothing to him. But no, she couldn't hear it right now. Her mind was like an old-time film re-winding and fast-forwarding the last ten minutes over and over again. The pain she felt was unimaginable, it was not emotional pain any longer. What she felt now was even physical. Her palms, sweaty, her heart, apart from being shattered was racing, her legs, weak, and finally her soul, permanently damaged. She knew that no one could make this pain go away. So she packed the few things she needed in a duffle bag and was once again passing the place she knew she could never return to. Isn't it funny how someone can alter your life completely in a matter of fifteen minutes? She returned to the darkened alleyway and it no longer felt intimidating, for she was numb and nothing mattered anymore. She was already on her way back to the one place she could stand to be in, the coffee shop. So now she sat, in the same chair, at the same table, broken hearted and in darkened spirits. Waiting for a bus that would take her away. Nowhere in particular and everywhere she needed to be; anywhere but here. So she sat, drinking her coffee that once tasted bitter but was now sweeter than anything else in her life.

The man's name was Jacob. Jacob Black. Forever known as the killer of Bella's fragile soul.

The next few weeks dragged on slowly and painfully. Bella was in worse shape by the minute. She couldn't bear to walk into her room; fully aware that it was a shrine to _him_ in there—with all their pictures and his belongings partially scattered across the bedroom floor. Bella was in the worst condition of her life. You would think the pain would ease, but what is said about time healing all is not necessarily applicable to this certain situation. Friends and family left supportive messages on her answering machine. That is—until she disconnected the wretched thing because his voice was on there too. For so long she had imagined their life together, growing old together sounded so unbelievable corny to her now but in the midst of things it was exactly what she wanted. She pictured so vividly their children and the petty fights they would have. Every little detail that played in her mind, now shattered. Bella's dreams and aspirations all more or less revolved around having her _personal life_ in order. She figured things would work out she'd have a family, a loving husband and most of all she would be happy. Well, define happy because Bella was not exactly sure what the word meant anymore.

Of course she realized that the façade would have to be put up any one of these days now. She needed to at least look the part for the sake of her family and friends. Of course none of it would be real and once she got home every night the make up would come off and the waterworks could turn on. But for the sake of her worrying family she would have to mask the pain again. Like so many times before, Bella had been destroyed, crushed by all means, and had to put it off like it was no big deal. This was all to familiar to her, she knew exactly where she was headed for and it felt like she was going from zero to sixty in under a minute.

Upon her arrival at her mother's house in Miami she would be smothered with love. But not the good kind that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, it's the kind of love that leaves you breathless for all the wrong reasons. Like too many times before Bella will go back home to Miami for a while—meaning taking a break from the very, very hectic life of a librarian—and stay at her mothers house with her younger sister. Needless to say this was not a routine that was out of practice for Bella's family. You see, she has a certain way of, well, to be brutally honest with you, driving the men in her life away. As cruel as that sounds of me to say, it's the honest-to-goodness truth about her.

**BPOV (AN: I know it's really unprofessional and whatnot to change persons while writing but it was so much more detailed and a better read when I wrote this in first person. Fair warning LOL.**

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"_Mi querida_, would you please pass me the _sal _for _un segundo_?" my mother screeched at me from the kitchen.

"Mamá," I quickly answered, "the salt is in the cabinet above your head!" I heard a muffled groan after that one.

She was upset. Of course, I hadn't seen it before. She didn't really want the salt, she wanted me to go into the kitchen and attempt to get me to talk about why I was moping, in Miami. She knew exactly why I was here and she wanted to know about this break up. My mother is the typical Cuban mother. She is nosy, pushy, imperative and all together loud. But you couldn't help but love her. I knew her intentions were good so I decided to head for the kitchen nonchalantly to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Mamá I really loved this one this time," was all I had to say before she dropped the wooden stirring spoon she had in her hand and rushed over to the dinner table.

"_Ay mi hijita_, you think he was the one?" she asked somberly in her best English although it was still heavily accented.

"I do" was all I could respond to that; because it was the truth. Jake was my everything, and he was ripped out from under me like a rug. It still hurt. My mother saw what I was thinking and scooted closer to me and hugged me a little tighter. She was carefully playing with my hair while my head was in my hands.

"Wait", I thought out loud, "this isn't what usually happens, mamá. You usually let me vent until I've said about every last mean thing there is to say about a person and then you sit with my for a while and tell me that he wasn't worth a thing and that I'm stronger than this, broken heart mumbo-jumbo." Oops. Now I regretted that. Here I am mocking my mother's ways while she's trying her very best to help me out. Honestly, I think I could run just everybody in my life out. "Ugh" I grunted, "I'm sorry ma, its just, I'm sort of bitter." Was that all I could spit out?! I mean for goodness' sake my mother was really helping me out this time.

"_Mi hija_, you're very young and well, my old speech still stands _pero_, I see this is _diferente_." That was it, the sobs began.

"_Si._" was all I could get out between the gasping for breath. I had lost it. I know I'm only nineteen but when true love hits you, it hits you hard.

I had trouble eating that night and nothing was really said to me from anyone in the house, I think they were all beginning to understand that this wasn't just one of my trips home because I'd been dumped. It was way worse. I walked up the stairs and down the familiar hallway and turned into my room. "Ugh" I grunted as I laid down on my tiny bed. It seemed to have fit me perfectly before I left to college and now, well like everything else in my life—including myself—it felt inadequate. Although it was somewhat of a relief to be with people that loved me, for me, I was still completely bummed. I was beginning to drift off into another one of my hopeful daydreams when I heard a light sound from my window. I shrugged it off and continued with my perfect-dream-beach-date-scene. "Ping!" something hit my window again. Okay now I was pissed. I jumped off my bed and looked out of my second story window to find my one and only best friend Edward throwing rocks at my window. "If you think that this is chivalry, then let me be the first to tell you that it's dead." I whispered as loudly as I could into the humid Miami night. "Aye, my lady, chivalry will never die!" he responded. "It—or you—will if you don't stop throwing rocks at my damn window, ya creeper." I smiled when I said this and he knew I was playing with him. "I'll be down in a second." I hurriedly put a light satin robe over my pajamas and slipped on my slippers and rushed down the stairs. But I stopped midway. "Why am I so excited to see Edward? After all, it is _just _Edward." No, no there is absolutely no way I was making Edward my rebound boy. No. I continued my path towards the front door. By the time I reached the sidewalk I realized that Edward had done all of this so we could meet at our old spot.

Well it wasn't necessarily ours—it belonged to the community—but we couldn't help but make it our own, especially since we had met there. "Hi there, gorgeous" Edward smiled to me from the swing set as he patted the open swing next to him for me to sit down.

"Hey" I answered.

"What're you doing back home again? The usual?"

"What? You too? Doesn't anybody here care about _why I'm here_ instead of just marking it down as another tally, oops another break-up, don't forget to mark it down!" I almost yelled sarcastically.

"Ouch man, I'm sorry okay? That was rude of me." Was that all he could bring himself to say?

"Yeah, it was." We sat in silence for a little while until he couldn't help but open his mouth again.

"So, this guy, uhmm, he was, uhm you know,_ the_ _one_?" he forced out of his mouth.

"Yeah, Edward, I'm pretty sure he was '_the one_.'" I replied.

"Ouch. Hey listen, I'm really sorry you know? You deserve a lot better than him."

"Umm, thanks that really means a lot to me. I don't think you've ever been this sincere before and I'm not sure I like it."

"Ha ha very funny Bells, you know I really care about you."

"Yeah, I do, that's why I love you" I quickly answered.

"As I do you Bells, as I do you."

**EPOV**

Man I love the way she sounds. I love her hair, her eyes and I even love the way she breathes. Ugh, man I need to stop this. I've been madly in love with Bella since the day we met. She's just so beautiful. STOP! Ugh, the internal battle in my head never ceases.

**BPOV**

"So, what've you been up to _Eddie_?" I dragged out the syllables of his name and he hates when I use my childhood nickname for him. "One, don't call me that," he replied angrily "and two, nothing really just, you know, the usual." Edward worked at the local mechanic and was slowly, but surely working his way up to being the "top-dog mechanic", whatever that meant. I've always had a secret _thing _for Edward but I wouldn't tell him about it. Chances are he'd laugh it off and I'd be left horribly mortified. He couldn't like me back. It just wasn't possible. Or was it?

"Ughh! Stop this craziness!" I mumbled to myself quietly. "He has a girlfriend!" I growled at myself, unconvincingly.

"What was that?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Uhm, nothing. Nope, just talking to myself. Ha." I fake laughed.

"Oh because I thought you said 'he has a girlfriend' which if that is what you said" he winked at me—letting me know that he _had_ heard me—"I don't anymore. Not that you would care." He spat bitterly.

"What's that supposed to mean? That I don't care about anyone else except for myself?! Honestly Edward, I thought you thought higher of me than that!" I retorted.

"Listen, Bells, can we just start this whole night over again please? It seems like we've been at each other's throats since we saw each other!"

"Yeah, can we please?" I answered.

"Okay, so how's school?" he asked sincerely.

"Its okay, good, well you're the only one I can brag to so it's going pretty damn awesome!" this brought laughter from the both of us.

"Oh Bella, I've missed hearing you laugh so much!" he blurted out and then blushed when he realized what he'd said. I was so happy! Words couldn't describe how happy I was to hear that _he _had been waiting for _me_! I guess my emotions show rather clearly on my face because when he turned to look into my eyes he smiled quite largely.

"Want me to walk you home?' he asked, "If you don't mind" I responded with a sly grin.

We both jumped off our swings and walked toward our homes. We were approaching my house and all of a sudden I felt Edward's strong grip on my arm as he pulled me under a tree. I didn't necessarily fight it either. He pinned me to the trunk of the tree and I began saying "What're you do—" I got cut off by his soft lips pressing onto mine. It took me a few seconds before I began to kiss back. It felt so right. It was just perfect. All my thoughts about Jake, my life sucking, or my relationship problems seemed to vanish the moment we locked lips. As we pulled apart I knew there was nothing more I wanted—or needed—in my life than to be with him. After all that we've been through it just felt right to be with him. At that moment I knew, we'd be together forever.

**AN: Click that review button right down there, I know you want to. **


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